The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 11 (March 1, 1928)
[section]
“In a first-class stationary plant one pound of coal will produce nearly one horse-power for one hour, but in a modern superheater locomotive it will only produce one horse-power for twenty to twenty-five minutes (says Professor Goss). One pound of coal used in a goods locomotive will provide enough energy to carry one ton fifteen or sixteen miles, and in a modern train it will be fed to the boiler every 52ft. of distance travelled; in other words, if coal were fed to the boiler continuously it would take a rod of coal ⅜ in, square constantly fed into the firebox.”
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Early Fairlie N.Z. Locomotive.
From the exhaustive tests of Professor Goss the actual distribution of fuel consumed on the average locomotive on a division where no interest is being taken in fuel economy may be stated as follows:—
| (1) Stand-by losses, consisting of fuel used in keeping steam while the engine is standing idle, in starting fires preparatory to taking out on runs and fuel in firebox at end of runs | 20% |
| (2) Losses due to vapourising the moisture contained in the coal | 5% |
| (3) Wasted on the ground and stolen | 1% |
| (4) Losses due to unconsumed gases escaping through the smoke stack | 10% |
| (5) Loses due to unconsumed fuel in cinders and sparks | 10% |
| (6) Losses due to unconsumed fuel in ashes | 3% |
| (7) Losses due to radiation, leakage of steam and miscellaneous sources | 6% |
| (8) Utilised in effective work | 45% |
| 100% |
Now let us examine each item and study where the enormous loss of 55% can be reduced.